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An ode to Mr. Nelson; a thirty-something retrospective of the Mt. SAC Invitational

As much as I’d love to rattle off 61 highlights in honor of the 61 years that the Mt. SAC Invitational has been in existence, even I don’t have that much to write about the largest — and greatest — high school cross country meet in the nation.

So, the next best thing is to pick out 30 achievements that really stood out Friday and Saturday — mostly Saturday — in honor of the 30th anniversary of former Burbank High standout Jeff Nelson setting the true 3-mile Mt. SAC course record of 14 minutes, 32 seconds in 1978.

Nelson jokingly mentioned Saturday that he thought about bringing cupcakes to Mt. SAC to present to the meet directors in honor of his accomplishment, which has since been improved upon by four individuals, albeit on the revised 2.91-mile layout. The cupcakes would’ve fit right in on a warm day in Walnut, because it was one big party for local runners all weekend long.

Without further adieu, here is the Mt. SAC Thirty-something in honor of Nelson’s historical feat:

30. Since I didn’t get to talk to Golden Valley’s Rob and Chris Evans, I have to credit www.donsdiary.net for this one. Golden Valley sophomore Raziel Morales ran 21:44 last year, but improved to 16:46 in Saturday’s Div. II varsity race to be the Grizzlies’ No. 4 runner. That’s a 4:58 drop folks. I know plenty of teams that didn’t drop half that much from last year.

29. Flintridge Sacred Heart’s Andrea Kropp, one of the nation’s top high school swimmers, continues to progress with every race in her debut cross country season. Kropp was the top finisher for the victorious Tologs in their Div. IV-V girls’ varsity race Friday, taking sixth in 20:17.

26. Birmingham’s Rico Gutierrez clocked 16:15 Saturday to take fourth in his Div. I varsity race, giving the Patriots more confidence in their pursuit of the City Section title. Quartz Hill’s Zach Risinger was right in front of him in 16:11.

25. Flintridge Prep closed the gap significantly from its last meeting with Woodcrest Christian at the Clovis Invitational, taking third in the Div. V boys’ sweepstakes race with 72 points. Paul Weitekamp (16:12) took seventh for the Rebels, who trailed Woodcrest Christian (47) and Arizona small school power Hopi (55).

24. Although the times were representative of running during the middle of the day Saturday, Highland had three girls finish in the top five in its Div. I girls’ varsity race to take second behind Escondido (48 points). Caylie Choate (19:20) was second, Jessica Smith (19:29) placed fourth and Marilyn Cortina (19:36) was fifth for the runner-up Bulldogs (86 points).

22. Hindered by injuries all season, Royal took another step toward securing a possible berth in the Southern Section Div. I final by winning its Div. I boys’ varsity race with 110 points. Travis Edwards (16:05) finished eighth for the Highlanders.

21. A great battle took place in a Div. II girls’ varsity race between Newbury Park and Canyon, with the Panthers prevailing 62-64. Brynne Shannon (18:58) delivered her best race of the season for Newbury Park, placing fourth, just ahead of Canyon’s pack of Alyssa Selve (18:58), Hayley Parkinson (19:06) and Jessica Gatton (19:15), which finished fifth through seventh. Jenny Mallen (19:15) was eighth for Newbury Park.

20. In that same race, Hart (140) took third behind Newbury Park and Canyon, but Grace Zamudio came through with a strong performance for the Indians, placing third in 18:57.

19. Eastside’s Steven Melena, who could be a factor in the postseason depending on if the school’s revised CBED enrollment figures land him in Div. II or Div. III, took second in his Div. III varsity race Friday in 16:02.

18. Although she was overshadowed by the performance of La Reina, Paraclete sophomore Melissa Bauer (18:49) placed fifth Friday in the Div. IV girls’ sweepstakes race. The same goes for West Ranch’s Bailey Miller in the Saugus-dominated Div. I-II girls’ team sweepstakes race Saturday, as she took 29th in 18:43.

17. Rio Mesa freshman Madison Schmader, already with two Pacific View League victories on her resume, took third in her Div. II varsity race Saturday in 18:48.

16. Hart’s Konrad Antoniuk, one of the area’s top three-sport athletes (swimming and track are his spring sports), clocked 15:59 to place fifth in his Div. II varsity race Saturday, a 25-second improvement from last year. Teammates Sam Peckham (16:42) and Austin O’Neill (17:06) finished first and second in a Div. II freshman race later in the day.

15. Running in the shadow of Crescenta Valley’s Zack Torres and Arcadia’s Renaud Poizat and Ammar Moussa during Pacific League meets, Burroughs’ Western Nelson enjoyed some individual glory Saturday in his Div. I varsity race, winning in 15:58 for the Indians (92 points), who took second to Yucaipa (77).

14. La Canada junior Aayush Shah dropped 58 seconds off his mark from last year to clock the fastest time Friday by any local male runner, taking eighth in the Div. III sweepstakes in 15:48.

13. The battle for second place at the Foothill League boys’ final is shaping up to be an intense one as Canyon continued its second-half surge with strong efforts in its Div. II varsity race from Thomas McGuan (15:44) and Anthony Pizzo (15:49). The Cowboys placed third with 127 points.

12. Simi Valley delivered an outstanding performance in its Div. II boys’ varsity race, winning with 167 points on the strength of Steven Semler (15:44), Michael Vorgitch (15:55) and Brian Reina (15:56) all finishing in the top 20. With the way the Pioneers are running, combined with Royal’s resurgence and Thousand Oaks’ recent success, the Ventura County Championships and Marmonte League final have the potential to be special in the coming weeks.

11. La Reina backed up its status as the top-ranked team in Southern Section Div. IV and No. 2 in the state, winning Friday’s girls’ sweepstakes race with 66 points, ahead of Mayfield’s 82. Sarah Pearson (18:38) was third, Rachel Brajkovich (18:41) took fourth and Tara Blanchard (19:42) placed 12th for the Regents, who also defeated Mayfield 97-105 at the Clovis Invitational.

10. El Camino Real’s Brett Schmitt might not have enough support behind him to lead the Conquistadores to a City Section team title, but he continued to solidify his status as favorite for the individual crown, finishing ninth Saturday in the boys’ individual sweepstakes race in 15:21.

9. The Crescenta Valley girls quietly continue to deliver one impressive performance after another, the latest coming in Saturday’s Div. I-II team sweepstakes competition. Although everyone played second-fiddle in the race to Saugus, the Falcons (93:42) finished fourth, defeating Great Oak and Trabuco Hills, two teams that were ahead of them in this week’s Div. I state rankings. C.V. trailed only Saugus, Dana Hills and Torrey Pines. Pretty impressive company.

8. Simi Valley’s Liberty Miller didn’t have the speed to keep up with the sub-17 trio of Mission Prep’s Jordan Hasay (16:27), San Clemente’s Alex Dunne (16:48) and Rancho Bernardo’s Molly Grabill (16:54), but she finished seventh in the Div. I-II girls’ individual sweepstakes race Saturday in an impressive 17:36, third-fastest among all local females Saturday.

7. The progress made by Golden Valley’s Seth Totten the past month has been incredible, as he tied the former course record at Central Park, won at the Santa Clarita Invitational at Castaic Lake and now posted a 15:12 Saturday to capture his Div. II varsity race at Mt. SAC. Totten’s time was a personal best by 1:56 and he was the fastest Foothill League runner by 17 seconds.

6. Five male runners broke 15 minutes Saturday, including Loyola sophomore Elias Gedyon winning the team sweepstakes in a class-record 14:48, but Lancaster’s Pedro Zaragoza (15:02) and Camarillo’s Heyden Wooff (15:04) are banging on the door to eclipse the barrier at the Southern Section prelims or finals.

5. Perhaps the biggest shocker, and the most pleasant one of the day, came from the Saugus boys, who held off El Toro 108-116 to win the team portion of the Div. I-II individual sweepstakes race. Brandon Jauregui (15:29) was the Centurions’ fastest runner, taking 11th, with Alec Nelson — Jeff’s son — placing 15th in 15:40. But it was the support of Joey Eledge (23rd, 15:56), Camden McAlister (40th, 16:30) and Kevin Heinemann (41st, 16:31) that made it possible for Saugus to win its second invitational title in three weeks.

4. Normally, JV races don’t get much attention. Unless, of course, Saugus is running in that race, then it takes on the same magnitude as a varsity race. The Centurions won the girls’ JV national championship race last season at Mt. SAC with 24 points and 95:37. So what did they do for an encore? Swept the top five spots and clocked 95:00, a mark that would’ve placed them among the top 15 varsity teams Saturday, and that was without Danielle Hernando in the lineup. Courtney Wilson rang the victory bell in 18:52, with Alex Hampton (18:56) running so hard she needed medical attention following her second-place finish. Katie Shirley followed in 18:58, with Nicole Penick (19:04) and Amy Haukka (19:10) rounding out the top five. Even Merissa Kado (19:17), the Centurions’ sixth runner, finished eighth.

3. Crescenta Valley’s Zack Torres said he was disappointed with his performance Saturday in the Div. I-II boys’ individual sweepstakes race. This was after running 14:50. Torres placed third behind Trevor Dunbar (14:41) of Kodiak High in Alaska and Foothill of Bakersfield’s Chris Schwartz (14:46). It was Torres’ second defeat in three weeks at the hands of Schwartz, who prevailed by a second at the Clovis Invitational. But Torres’ mark still ranks him among the top 10 in area history.

2. Thousand Oaks didn’t win the Div. I-II boys’ team sweepstakes, but a second-place finish behind Dana Hills was plenty satisfactory for the Lancers, who clocked the fastest time (77:36) ever by a Div. II team and moved into a tie for eighth on the Mt. SAC course’s all-time list. Dana Hills had 91 points and ran 77:10, the No. 3 mark at Mt. SAC, and Thousand Oaks had 128 points to edge Buchanan of Clovis (130), the top-ranked team in the state in Div. I.

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